Tara Laan
Lead, Incentivizing Renewables
Tara Laan is a Lead, Incentivizing Renewables, in IISD’s Energy Program. She has over 17 years of experience in energy policy, with a particular focus on subsidies and taxation.
Tara’s work spans a diverse range of economies, including the energy program’s focus countries: Canada, India, Indonesia, and South Africa. She has successfully concluded projects with the Asian Development Bank, the Facility for Oil Sector Transparency in Nigeria, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the OECD, and the World Bank, among others.
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Contact details
Additional information
- Areas of expertise
- Subsidies
- Responsible Business
- Trade
- Energy
- Climate Change Mitigation
- Sustainable Finance
- Biofuels
- Green Taxation
- Natural Resource Management
- Renewable Energy
- Education
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Bachelor of Science, Botany and Zoology, University of Adelaide
Contributions
Publications
Indonesia’s Next Cooking Transition
This report compares three alternatives—induction stoves, dimethyl ether (DME), and city gas—and finds that induction stoves are the most practical and viable option to support Indonesia’s shift to cleaner, non-fossil cooking
Report
December 17, 2025
Budgeting for Net Zero: Powering India's reliable clean energy future
This report assesses the cost competitiveness of firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE) relative to new thermal power in India through 2050, any government support needed to accelerate FDRE uptake as the cost-effective generation option, and the macroeconomic implications of scaling FDRE.
Report
December 8, 2025
Reforming Environmentally Harmful Subsidies
This playbook offers a strategic framework for philanthropic organizations to understand, engage, and advance environmentally harmful subsidies reform as a critical avenue for sustainable environmental and economic transformation.
Report
February 11, 2025
Budgeting for Net Zero
This study estimates the cost gap for battery energy storage systems (BESSs), offshore wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), electric vehicles (EVs), and green hydrogen (GH2) to inform government support.
Report
December 16, 2024
Articles
Five Trends That Have Shaped Global Subsidies Over Decades
As we celebrate the Global Subsidies Initiative's 20th anniversary, we asked our experts how thinking on government support has shifted over time.
Explainer
December 16, 2025
Clean Cooking Means Moving Beyond Fossil Fuels—G20 countries must lead the way
Universal access to clean cooking has long been a G20 goal. Shifting beyond fossil fuels is vital to make clean cooking universal and sustainable.
Deep Dive
November 18, 2025
Why Gender Inclusion Must Drive the Just Energy Transition
As the global clean energy transition gains momentum, one principle becomes increasingly clear: we cannot talk about equity without addressing gender. And yet, for many women in South Africa, the energy transition feels divorced from their everyday realities.
Insight
August 15, 2025
Seven Ways Fossil Fuel Subsidies Undermine Energy Security
Fossil fuel subsidies are often seen as a safety net, protecting consumers from rising energy prices. But do they actually help build long-term energy security? Our experts explain why this assumption might be deeply misleading.
Deep Dive
April 22, 2025
The Cost of Fossil Fuel Reliance
Government support for fossil fuels reached at least USD 1.5 trillion in 2023, new data shows.
Insight
December 18, 2024
Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability: A landmark pact for trade and sustainability
The ACCTS pact, signed by Costa Rica, Iceland, New Zealand, and Switzerland, aligns trade and environmental policies, tackling fossil fuel subsidies, eco-labels, and green trade.
Deep Dive
December 13, 2024
Green Recovery Know-How From the Nordics
Nordic countries are known for combining healthy economic growth with solid social and environmental policies. What's their secret to green recovery?
Insight
July 30, 2020